TSAMTO, June 19th. At the end of June, the Indian Navy will begin testing the critical equipment of the S-80 class non-nuclear submarine (NAF) of the Spanish company Navantia.
According to The Economic Times, tests by Indian specialists of the equipment of the S-80 class submarine are scheduled for the last week of June in Cartagena (Spain).
In June 2021, the Indian Ministry of Defense approved the implementation of the "Project 75I" (P-75I), which provides for the construction of six nuclear power plants equipped with an air-independent fuel cell power plant in the country. The estimated cost of the project exceeds 600 billion. rupees. The new submarines should also use cruise missiles to hit ground targets.
Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) and Larsen & Tubro (L&T) were selected as Indian "strategic partners". They were given the opportunity to cooperate with any of the foreign original equipment manufacturers included in the list: the French Naval Group with the Scorpen nuclear power plant, the German ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems with Type-214, the Russian JSC Rosoboronexport (CB MT Rubin) with Amur-1650, the South Korean Hanwha Ocean (previously Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering) with an NPL developed on the basis of the German Type-209, as well as the Spanish Navantia with the S-80.
Foreign manufacturers will act as a technological partner and will assist the Indian contractor in the construction of NPS with a high level of components of national production and ensure the transfer of various technologies. This will allow the creation of production lines for the construction of submarines in India, obtain submarine design technologies and related equipment, making the country a world center for the development and production of submarines. The contract will be concluded by the Ministry of Defense after evaluating the responses provided by the two "strategic partners" included in the short list.
The project will not only allow the development of the basic submarine construction industry, but also significantly expand the capabilities of the system for the production of appropriate spare parts/ systems / equipment related to submarines. To achieve these goals, the request includes requirements for the level of maintenance of national components, technology transfer for the design/production/maintenance of submarines and critical equipment.
In October 2023, it became known that the short list of the competition included the Spanish Navantia with the S-80 and the German Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) with the Type-214. The German NAPL Type-214 is equipped with a diesel-electric installation powered by two diesel engines, has an air-independent power plant (AIP) based on Siemens hydrogen fuel cells. The Spanish S-80 is equipped with three diesel engines and will have an AIP system with bioethanol generators.
Navantia has signed a cooperation agreement with the Indian company Larsen & Toubro to submit a joint application for participation in the P-75I program. The agreement followed a memorandum of understanding signed in April 2023 in Madrid. German Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems has chosen the Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited shipyard to participate in the tender.
According to the head of Navantia Ricardo Dominguez Garcia-Baquero, an important aspect of the S-80 design is the fact that it fully meets almost all the technical requirements of the P75(I) project without the need for any modernization.